3x-ui/docs/panel-guide/10-glossary-and-concepts.md

10. Glossary and Concepts

Core terms

• Inbound: Server-side listener definition (protocol, port, stream/security settings, and clients).

• Outbound: Egress route object used by routing policy.

• Client (native 3x-ui): Per-inbound user entry embedded under inbound settings.

• Master Client (custom feature): Central profile that syncs policy to assigned inbound clients.

• Assignment: Link between one master client and one inbound (custom table-backed mapping).

• Stream/Transport: Wire transport settings (tcp/ws/grpc/etc) independent from protocol identity.

• Security layer: none, tls, or reality depending on stream configuration.

• Sniffing: Metadata/domain extraction behavior for routing logic.

• Traffic reset: Reset policy cycle for usage counters.

• needRestart: Service flag indicating runtime API update failed or restart is required for consistency.

Data model concepts

• inbounds.settings stores client arrays as JSON.
• xray.ClientTraffic stores usage/state counters per tracked client email.
• InboundClientIps stores email-to-IP observations.
• Custom extension adds:
  • MasterClient
  • MasterClientInbound

Control plane vs data plane

• Control plane: Panel UI/API, DB, settings, orchestration jobs.

• Data plane: Xray runtime handling proxy traffic.

Operationally:

• A panel save may succeed in DB while runtime application may require restart.
• Always verify both DB state and runtime state for critical changes.

Practical mental model

1. Configure inbound protocol/transport/security.
2. Attach clients (native or via master sync).
3. Validate routing/DNS/outbound path.
4. Confirm runtime apply and traffic counters.